Scientists have identified a geological location that could be used to identify a new proposed epoch in the Earth’s history called the Anthropocene. The location is a lake in Ontario Canada named Crawford Lake. This is proposed to identify the changes that human activity has brought upon the earth.
Scientist say that this lake can be used to mark the starting point of this new geological epoch. This is because the mud that is recovered from the soil beneath the surface of the lake is said to contains the traces of the fallouts from burning of fossil fuels. It also contains plutonium which is a radioactive element which marks as the trace of nuclear bomb tests. The soil found underneath contains different layers which can be used to mark different eras of human activities. The shape of the lake restricts the water and particles underneath does not mix with each other and year after year, the particles fallen in the lake from different human activities just settled on top of each other forming a layer that marks the different eras.
12 other locations were proposed from all over the world to mark as the start of the Anthropocene Epoch but Crawford Lake was finally accepted by the experts. Now a part from the mud extracted from Crawford Lake containing the layers of elements is going to be extracted and kept in the museum as it will mark the new era of the Earth.
Earlier in 2000, the term Anthropocene was proposed to identify as a new epoch to reflect the profound changes that has affected the geology, atmosphere, and biology of our planet. Anthropocene marks the time when the consequences of human activities started to change the earth substantially. The Anthropocene era is not yet confirmed and scientists argue about the start of this era. It is said by many that this Anthropocene era started in 1950. This is largely related to the invention of nuclear bombs and can be said to pinpoint the period when humanity became a force that started altering their own planet. Many different timelines were proposed to mark the start of Anthropocene epoch. For example, the agricultural revolution which started tens of thousand of years before, some even proposed for the Industrial revolution of 18th century to mark the start. But the invention of nuclear bomb is more widely accepted by experts in the field.
Currently we are living in the Holocene Epoch. The starting of this dates back to almost 12000 years in the past, just after the ice age and it is still continuing. Holocene is the warm era that was entered by the Earth back then. Holocene epoch can be said to identify the development of human as a species. In these 11700 years, the Earth went through many major changes and hence, the epoch is more likely to change to Anthropocene as scientists are pushing for it. However, many does feel that this push may be more political than relating to the Earth’s ecology.
